Planar aqueous electrode technique for polymer impedance spectroscopy

In this article, we ctewelop an aqueous electrode tech- niqye that can adapt to complex sample geometries while maintaining perfect contact between the electro- des and the measured sample. In contrast to surface deposited electrodes, the aqyeous electrode technique measures the ionic conduction of the polymer sample instead of the inherent dielectric properties of the poly- mer. Polymer ionic conduction is often related to the polymer thermodynamic state, which itself is closely linked to many other polymer properties. As sych, the aqueous electrode method provides an approach to conduct in situ monitoring of polymer samples sub- jected to degradation; changes in the impedance pro- wide an indication of polymer sample degradation. This article presents the aqueous electrode setup and dis- cusses experimental results obtained using it. Changes in the impedance response of PVC and polyimide films dye to moisture absorption, ionic conduction, pinholes, chemical degradation, and temperature are presented.